The sport of roller blading was created by off season hockey players as a means of maintaining physical condition. The sport has rapidly gained in popularity and is now enjoyed by skaters of all degrees of athletic ability. A corollary to the increase in popularity of roller blading is an advance in roller blade technology, particularly, properly engineered wheels and bearings that permit relatively high speeds to be achieved.
One negative has developed, however, in that high speeds, while relatively easy to achieve, often cannot be handled by the average skater. The art of turning and/or braking from a high speed, with its inherent shift of body weight and position, is difficult to master and often results in a fall. Falls incident to turning and/or braking, are experienced by virtually every novice skater. Accordingly, a need has developed for a braking and stabilizing system that enables a skater to maintain balance at all speeds and safely slow down and/or turn.